


Would You Let Me See Beneath Your Beautiful?

by EternallyEC



Series: Behind your Broadway show, I heard a voice say please don't hurt me [2]
Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23590699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternallyEC/pseuds/EternallyEC
Summary: Tori tries to make things right, but is she too late?
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Series: Behind your Broadway show, I heard a voice say please don't hurt me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698103
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	Would You Let Me See Beneath Your Beautiful?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WasabiDuckies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WasabiDuckies/gifts).



> Hello again! I think this quarantine is going to be good for my muse. 
> 
> Anyway, I really had no plans to continue from Hurts Like Hell, but I saw another prompt on the Jori Discord that immediately made me long to write this. There may or may not be more to come because I find myself oddly attached to these versions of my beloved characters and the painful growth they're going through. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

It’s 12:45 AM when Jade hears a rock being thrown against her bedroom window… which is frankly impressive because there are a fair few windows to choose from and she purposefully made sure that hers is indistinguishable. 

Rubbing her puffy eyes, Jade cracked a curtain and had to rub her eyes again to make sure what she’s seeing is real. 

Fucking Tori Vega is in her yard, wearing nothing but pajamas and a pair of slippers, getting ready to throw another rock. 

Cracking her window, she hissed, “Tori!” just in time for her to flinch, the rock going wild and hitting a nearby tree. Rolling her eyes, she glares down at the other girl, her pride and her heart still smarting from her earlier rejection. 

“Let me in,” Tori called up, much too loudly for the late hour and Jade gave her a sharp look. 

“And why should I do that?” she scoffed, leaning out of the window so that she can talk a little more softly. “You think of something else you forgot to throw in my face?” she asked bitterly. 

“I’m sorry about that,” Tori said softly, her voice just reaching Jade’s ears. “Please, I just want to talk.” 

“Yeah, well, that’s what I wanted to do before you picked a fight and replaced your number with the fucking Rejection Hotline,” Jade spit, wishing she could take her usual pleasure in Tori’s pained expression, but her traitorous heart just ached at the sight now. 

“I know,” Tori sighed. “Look, if you don’t want to let me in, can you come out here?” 

Jade hesitated for a long moment, thinking it over before she finally nodded, a jerky motion. “Fine,” she spat, closing her window and hurriedly pulling a hoodie over her tank top. She wanted to expose as little skin as possible, knowing she already felt too exposed when she was around Tori to begin with. 

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch, Tori’s proximity making her feel weak in the knees and sick to her stomach at the same time. 

“Jade,” Tori said softly, moving closer. 

“Don’t,” Jade ordered as she reached the steps and, to her credit, Tori listened and sat on the steps. “You wanted to talk, so talk.” 

Tori sighed. “Fine, but I need you to listen, okay? Really listen, don’t just pretend to and stay mad.” 

“I don’t do that,” Jade grumbled, knowing full well that she did. Tori just looked at her, raising an eyebrow in a manner so like her that it took Jade off-guard. “Fine,” she amended, leaning against the door. “Talk.”

“Some of the stuff I said the other day was true,” Tori began, glaring at Jade when she acted like she might interrupt. “Just  _ listen _ .”

Rolling her eyes, Jade nodded for her to go ahead. 

“I put up with a lot from you, Jade, and I never stopped caring or trying to be your friend. When you kissed me… I would have done anything for you,” she smiled softly, shaking her head. 

“But I shouldn’t have,” she sighed. “I told myself that I didn’t mind sneaking around with you, and I didn’t. But I didn’t like having to hide a part of myself from everyone I care about, Jade. Our relationship? That was our decision to make, and I was fine waiting for you. But you shouldn’t have asked me to hide my sexuality and I shouldn’t have agreed to it.” 

“Tori…” Jade said softly, but she didn’t say any more when Tori held a hand up.

“I’m not done yet,” she told her, smiling sadly. “I knew that Beck wanted you back. He said something about it right before you sang and when he went up there and kissed you and you let him…” 

She pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she looked up at Jade. “I was so furious. All I could think was that you’d been using me while you waited for him, and I didn’t wait around to find out.” 

Taking a slow, even breath, she continued. “I didn’t come to school because I couldn’t even get out of bed, Jade. I was devastated because I knew that you were back together with him and I just couldn’t go to school and see it for myself.” 

“And then… then you showed up at my door and everything just boiled over,” she sighed. “I didn’t know how much I resented hiding being gay until I saw you standing there. It bled into everything else and made me furious. I don’t regret what I said, exactly, but how I said it,” she swallowed, her voice growing small. “And I regretted deleting my number and doing… that as soon as it was done.” 

She was silent, picking nervously at a thread on her jeans as she waited for Jade to say something, anything. 

“You know how shitty I am at things like this,” she said at length, sitting beside Tori on the steps and smirking when the brunette’s eyes widened at her sudden proximity. 

“I’m not going to say it’s okay because of course it’s not fucking okay,” she said, but there was no malice in her words. “But… I guess I can get why you did it,” she said with a frown. 

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you that day. I came over to talk but I got scared and fucked everything up more.” She sighed. “I tried to call you earlier to apologize and actually talk,” she told her, a twinge of hurt in her tone that made Tori wince. “And it fucking hurt because I trusted you, Tori. But… you trusted me too and I fucked that up first.” 

“Jade…” 

“It’s your turn to listen,” Jade told her. “I’m not back together with Beck, Tori. God, I can’t believe you even thought that, but it makes a lot more sense.” 

“Then why did you kiss him?” she asked softly. 

“Because he was safe and familiar and for just a minute, I wanted that again. God, Tori, you don’t even know how much you scare me, do you?” Tori’s widened eyes answered her question for her. “You make me feel so goddamn much and it’s terrifying sometimes.”

“But I looked for you as soon as it was over and I knew I’d screwed up again. I tried to let you have your space because I didn’t know what else to do, and then everything got worse.” 

“I guess we both fucked up,” Tori sighed. 

“Yeah, but I fucked up first,” Jade said, nudging her and earning a tiny smile. “Tori… I know that I hurt you. I know that nothing I can say will change the past. But… I’m hoping that you’ll forgive me in the end. I’m hoping that I can make this right.” 

Tori’s eyes were watering by the time she’d finished speaking and Jade soon found herself engulfed in a hug that she immediately returned. “I’m sorry too,” she mumbled into her shoulder, her tears soaking Jade’s sweatshirt already. 

“Hey,” Jade said softly, closing her eyes as she rubbed Tori’s back. “I’m sorry that I kissed Beck when I should have been with you, telling our friends about us.” 

“I’m sorry that I let my resentment built up until I did something stupid.” 

“I’m sorry that I tortured you for the first few years we knew each other and helped the hospital lose your blood because I wanted to play Steamboat Suzy.” 

“I’m sorry that I--wait, you did what?” Tori asked, jerking her head back and narrowing her eyes. 

“Uh, forgiveness, right? Isn’t that what you’re always preaching about, Vega?” Jade grinned sheepishly. “Come on, it was just one pint!” 

“I donated three pints of blood that day, Jade!” 

“Well, it’s not  _ my  _ fault that Robbie is a spaz, is it?” she rolled her eyes. “And I said I was sorry.” 

“I should have known,” Tori groaned, shaking her head. “Fine, I’ll forgive you on one condition.” 

“What’s that?” Jade asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Grinning, Tori reached out to take her hand and squeezed it before standing up, tugging at Jade’s hand until she joined her and leading the way into the middle of the yard. 

“Kiss me like you would have kissed me up on that stage,” she whispered, her eyes shining with happiness and a hint of pain. 

“That’s easy,” Jade smirked, cupping her cheek and leaning in to brush a gentle kiss across her lips, Tori returning the kiss eagerly. 

And as they kissed in the moonlit yard, young and in love and with so many obstacles still to come, both of them somehow just knew that they’d be okay. 


End file.
